Reflections: On the Road Again... Collegeville, PA
By Peter Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Feb 14, 2012
As a business consultant in a global economy, over the last 12 months I have worked with clients, partners, and prospects from one side of the United States to the other, as well as Canada, England, Germany, Hungary, and a couple other places. But thanks to technology (including videoconferencing) I’ve been able to do this work without leaving my office in Manassas, Virginia.
Today is different: I’m in Collegeville, Pennsylvania for business meetings with a client. At times there is no real substitute for face-to-face meetings, and this is one of those times.
Spending a lot of time in a car (as I did yesterday evening) or on a train provides opportunity for reflection. My thoughts from yesterday:
- As aforementioned, there really is no substitute for face-to-face meetings. If this is true in business relationships, should it be any less true in my relationship with Christ? First note to self: spend more time with our Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Second note to self: how wonderful it will be to truly see Him face to face.
- The Joyful mysteries of the Rosary are my favorite, but I have never thought about why that is the case. During my drive, I took some time to think about it. Perhaps it is because the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Presentation, and Finding strike closest to the heart of our own experience—or at least mine.
- In the Annunciation: longing to know the will of God, and then the joy and trepidation we experience after finding out what it is.
- In the Visitation: comforting and being comforted by friends; the joy of shared callings and experiences.
- In the Nativity: the joy of welcoming a new child. (I have two daughters.)
- In the Presentation: the joy and solemnity of offering that child an encounter with God through the sacraments. I knew at the time (and know even better now) that I was welcoming my children into the full experience of being a daughter of Christ, and everything that entails.
- In the Finding: the concern of parents to provide and protect for their children, and the joy (and heart pangs) of finding them safe and even in learning that they have surpassed you in some way; the happiness for a child that is growing up, and the sense of loss in remembering the child that they once were.
The opportunity for this type of reflection almost makes me wish I could travel more often... but not quite!
Peter Mirus is a business, marketing, and technology consultant with more than 20 years of experience working with companies and nonprofits, ranging from start-ups to large international organizations. From 2004-2014 he contributed articles on the Catholic Faith, culture, and business to the CatholicCulture.org website.
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Feb. 14, 2012 4:13 PM ET USA
Sigh... The Joyful Mysteries were the first and last rosary I said with my father. He was gravely ill, I didn't want to believe it would be his last night on earth. Your reflection on the Finding closely mirrors what I shared with Dad as we prayed. I was the kid who always wandered off. My 5 year old son had recently repaid me the experience as a parent. My Monday night rosary will forever leave me feeling I just held dad's hand again for a little bit. Thanks for the warm personal insight.
